"Missing Link" Review by Liam Scanlan

Liam Scanlan Review of “Missing Link” 05/02/19

The films of stop-motion animation studio Laika are underappreciated masterpieces, in my opinion. I say this because, despite the fact that the only breadwinner out of their five films is “Coraline”, thanks to the film’s director, Henry Selick, having “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” of all things on his directorial resume, all of them are nonetheless pretty good, and have been able to win the hearts of both critics and film buffs like myself. “Missing Link” is no exception.

“Missing Link” centers on an explorer named Sir Lionel Frost, who is trying to get into an explorer’s club, but is constantly rejected, due to him trying to find the titular “Missing Link” between man and ape. He then receives an anonymous letter from someone who turns out to be a sasquatch, and who is trying to find more of his kind. They, along with an old lover, Adelina Fortnight, set out to find Shangri-La, which is populated by the closest thing to the sasquatch’s kind: yetis. Meanwhile, the leader of the explorer’s club, Lord Piggot-Dunceby, hates Frost so much for believing in Charles Darwin’s much-neglected theory of evolution that he sends an assassin named Stink to kill him, in order to prevent him from going to Shangri-La, and from proving that the theory is true.

The film features a pretty stellar cast of voice actors, and boy, do those actors nail their respective roles. Hugh Jackman, who voiced Frost, does a very authentic British accent, which I have not heard since he voiced that mouse of Dreamworks and Aardman’s “Flushed Away”. Zoe Saldana, who voices Adelina Fortnight, does a great Latin American accent, which makes sense, due to her character being a Latino. It also adds to the ferocity of the character, since Adelina can be quite a tomboy in this film. Zach Galifinakis (sic), who voices the sasquatch, and Stephen Fry, who voices Piggot-Dunceby, don’t use accents, unlike the other two big names in the film’s cast, but don’t need too, as Galifinakis acts as hilariously buffoonish as possible, and Fry, acts just as scary as the character he voices, is (He even has rotten teeth, which makes him look hideous, in my opinion).

“Missing Link”’s humor is not only very silly, but it also uses a lot of satirical subtext. For example, as I have mentioned before, the film takes many not-so-subtle jabs against those to don’t believe in evolution with Piggot-Dunceby. Although I find this, and the film’s use of guns, to be very controversial, I also find these two factors to be very funny, as both make said film very edgy. Plus, the two factors make sure that this film doesn’t just appeal to little kids, and I find that to be GREAT! After all, animation isn’t just for kids, you know!

The narrative is also very well-executed. For example, there are a lot of action scenes, including those with Stink, and there are a lot of crazy characters our heroes encounter on their journey, including an old Himalayan woman who has a chicken on our head, but doesn’t acknowledge it. This fits with the film’s quirky tone, as well as its use of stop-motion photography.

The mixture between stop-motion animation and CG imagery, despite being noticeable in some scenes, is very breathtaking. This is because it makes the film look a lot more mesmerizing than advertised. They affect both the film’s narrative and tone by giving them a theme of nature, since most of it is set in either California or the Himalayas. It also makes the film itself look both clear and magnificent.

Finally, the soundtrack fits in with the film’s quirky, buddy-comedy-like tone. Even the ending theme song for this film, “Do-Dilly-Do (A Friend Like You)”, fits with this tone, since it features kazoo music, and is also so catchy that it can easily can get stuck in one’s head. Heck, it got stuck in MY head from hearing it in the theatre up until dinnertime.

Given the above reason why I think “Missing Link” is yet another one of Laika’s masterpieces, I would definitely recommend it, not only to children, families, or even animation lovers, but also those who would love a good historical satire.

It has great voice actors, great acting, great humor, a great narrative, great mixture between stop-motion animation and CGI, and even a great soundtrack!

Overall, I give this film a 9.5 out of 10!

The End.